Also know in this house as the first of spring :)
Sebastian, J and I celebrated the gorgeous day with a scooter/ride/walk around the block...which saw me pushing J's bike and her walking most of the way...white foam dome and all...LOL!
When we got home we had an impromptu morning tea picnic, because, why not?
So here is a bit if a recap of the last 6 or 7 weeks :)
Charlotte made the most hilariously backhanded apology I have ever seen LOL!
We had some fun with the twirling ribbons, these things make me smile, until I have to untie the knots that they get in them ;)
I had a couple of the most gorgeous friends over for lunch. The recipe for this is on my main blog :)
All of the kids have been really into playing babies, especially J and Sebastian. She is so cute when she cuddles and rocks them.
The spare sock stash came out for a mega match up session...and I think I even managed to convince the stash master to throw a few away! We must have one seriously fat odd sock monster!
Another classic note from Charlotte...she really does have a way with words :)
My boy helped me out with a spot of cooking :)
The all time favourite dress came out for a 3rd and final owner :)
It is becoming increasingly obvious to me how much and how fast my big girl is growing up. I have so many mixed feelings about that!
The small baby artist left me a masterpiece in pen on kitchen cupboard door laminate...or perhaps it is baby writing for 'clean me'.
Steven went away for work for 2 weeks and I went on a short sewing bender...I am totally hanging out to have another one!
We went to the park for a sunshiney saturday play while daddy was away.
The equipment was a bit of a challenge but this daredevil was up to it, spiral slide and all!
We had a spot of spag bol, several times probably :)
We took the big girls out to a play (Letter's End) and dinner (Sparrow) one Friday night in Adelaide when Steven got back from his work trip, then spent a lazy Saturday night on the couch. The play was awesome and well worth taking primary aged kids to and the food was yummo and I am looking forward to spending a lazy sunday lunch there for Sangria & Paella!
Can you feel the love between these two? They are two little peas in a pod and totally adore one another. They don't mind telling each other if the other is being annoying though!
An amusing insight from Charlotte.
Steven helped me rearrange my room, which I promptly trashed again finishing my Masters entry and I still haven't found enough spare time between layouts to clean it up properly!
J got a gorgeous new Verri Charmed 'at' from Sam :) She loves it!
Our biggest baby girl turned 8!
And I made cupcakes for her class
And I posted off that masters entry. I'm thinking it's the last time I'll enter at the moment...no doubt that will change when the criteria are announced next year!
The girls picked me a sweet bouquet of wildflowers. They are EVERYWHERE right now! So many gorgeous, different flowers, it's amazing!
The big girls started piano lessons at school, Miss J also enjoys a little tinkle :)
We spent a week with our heads alternately in a bucket...Starting with Lil and ending with Lil a week later!
We had an amazing visit from Danielle Quarmby. A total highlight of the year. Loved having her here and love all the awesome photos she took for some local families (including us and this glorious rainbow!)
We took her out to Andamooka and Lil & Steven showed off their skills on the monkey bars :)
Charlotte got all new bed linen for her birthday (it is actually red + white)...and a rearranged room. Need to update the fuschia pink curtains methinks and sew the quilt I have started cutting for her :) Love that she giggled her way through 'Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing'...she didn't seem so impressed when I grabbed it at the op shop but she is learning that I am usually right about books she will enjoy, slowly!
She has been a little bit of a perfectionist about her bed since the new linen went on...to the point where Steven found her sitting up at 5am with the light on stressing that her covers weren't perfectly straight anymore...oh dear...kind of sums up the last few weeks with her, there have been, multiple meltdowns and mostly over the other kids being in her room or touching her stuff. Thankfully she has calmed down this week.
It is week 7 so, not surprisingly, this beautiful girl has been in rather a (tired) bad mood too...not at helped by her crankypants big sister!
She's just beautiful and nutty...she puts EVERYTHING in her mouth...she was tasting various plants in the yard on the weekend (eek)...she wants to do the same as everyone else and it more fiercely independant than any of the other 3 very independant children! She is loving and silly and loves singing and dancing and recognises the words and knows the actions for so many songs. Her face lights up when I start singing something I haven't sung for her before but she knows from daycare. love it!
I mentioned wildflowers already...it is the first year that we have had big displays of Sturt Desert Peas since we moved here in 2007 (when they were pretty spectacular)...they are still pretty new and growing and expanding and I am looking forward to going out to take some photos with Lauren on Friday :)
These funny daisy flowers are really cool too...the petals are all dry.
And they make a pretty nice backdrop for photos too :)
We went to Adelaide for a funeral last week. On the way home Steven stopped to take a photo of this sign, it makes him giggle...I had never noticed the joke until he pointed it out!
And last of all I took the boy for the pre pre-entry kindy session on Friday. He will have 4 Wednesday afternoon sessions next term before launching into full kindy next year! It will be interesting because he was hiding behind my leg when we were at the kindy and didn't want to try out any of the activities. Luckily he knows quite a few other kids in his group so I am sure that he will be fine.
There are days when one of my children will go to bed and wake up seeming suddenly older. J is doing that often at the moment and today was one of those days. She is getting taller, her face is changing and she is learning so much and becoming more capable everyday. She is truly delightful and she bring so much happiness and laughter to our everyday life.
These 2 make me laugh...they are such little partners in crime. Sebastian needed a hug this afternoon which meant J immediately coming and trying to worm her way onto my lap too and trying to push him off in the process...little miss jealousy!
Last night...after I had already posted my photo...the sleepy boy paid us a visit on the couch...I couldn't resist taking a photo of him all cuddled into Steven
Steven just happened to be looking down at him when I snapped...I thought it would be blurry because the shutter speed was a little slow because it was only iso800...but thankfully no...my perfect boys :)
We made a quick trip to Andamooka to the op shop this morning...mum & jonny are here and mum wanted to check it out. There wasn't much good on offer today (although I did get another little pile of retro patterns for kids clothes!)...but Lil and J did find this little gem....
Pink bike with push along handle for J = $5...how could I go past it!
Then tonight we had an early 8th birthday celebration for Charlotte (as ina month early)...Mum and Jonny are going to be in the US on her birthday so we had homemade pizza and cake tonight
It was actually the first time I'd made a sponge...but it turned out quite nicely!
In between pizza and cake mum gave Charlotte her birthday present...Charlotte was more overwhelmed and excited by this present than I have ever seen her
She has been asking for one since she was 2...except she wanted a bi-tar for her 3rd birthday...I kid you not...every.single.birthday
She is totally over the moon...I was all ready for the girls to start piano lessons in term 3...so it looks like I have to find Charlotte a guitar teacher too....(maybe it's time for a visit Grandpa????)
Today mum snuck some oreos into the trolley and then gave us some as a treat when we got home because we had been really very good...shopping with 4 kids can be craaaaazy!
When mum snuck me the last one she told me to hide in the pantry so noone saw...especially not J because she wants everything that someone else has...but J knew where I was and laughed because I was in the pantry so I came out and everybody was laughing!
So much fun :)